


In the Ghetto

by Fawkes_Rinzler



Category: South Park
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Future, Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-06
Updated: 2016-12-06
Packaged: 2018-09-06 21:37:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8770246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fawkes_Rinzler/pseuds/Fawkes_Rinzler
Summary: Every day, he takes the bus, then he walks from the bus stop back home. And he thinks.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was a homework assignment in Creative Writing that I thought I should post, since I haven't posted anything new in a while.

He took the bus every day, to and from the college. The bus faire was a dollar, and a parking permit for the day was only two, so he would have been paying the same amount, but driving to school would have meant paying to get the car fixed, paying for gas, and paying for anything else that would have happened. He’d seen the way they parked at the college, and he had no doubt that an accident would happen sooner or later. His family wouldn’t be able to pay for the damage, or the gas, or even just getting the car fixed. So instead, he took the bus to the closest stop he could, and then walked home from there.

Snow had fallen throughout the town, though no one thought this unusual. In fact, many were convinced that the snow would never melt. Most children couldn’t even remember the days when the parks were green and the air was warm. Kenneth certainly couldn’t. Of course, living in a drafty, broken down house in what could only be considered the slums of the city certainly didn’t help matters. Having no glass on his window and a hole in his ceiling meant that even the warmest nights were cold.

When the bus stop finally came, he sat up, pulled on the chord to request the stop, and gathered his backpack and water bottle. As the bus screeched to a halt, he walked to the door, head ducked low and eyes focused only on his shoes. He’d had them for years, thanks to an early end to his growth spurt. He’d grown tall quickly, which had been a godsend for his mother, who’d tossed his old clothes to his sister and bought him a new set that he’d been in for almost three years now. Small Victories, but at least he wasn’t like Kevin, who was three years old, far past puberty, but still pulling an inch a year like his pituitary gland had taken it as a personal challenge. He pulled his orange coat tighter around his person as a biting wind picked up. It was supposed to be very windy that day, which meant he would likely be freezing in his bed that night. Kenneth was often left wondering if it would just be better to stay awake on those nights and just keep moving. 

He looked up as he reached the train-tracks, a bitter smirk on his face. Most people used the term “Across the Tracks” as a slang for the poor part of town. Apparently the cruel fates had thought it would be amusing to make a visual representation for those that didn’t understand the reference. He jumped over the rails and trotted down the road, no longer walked on the sidewalk. The road was filled with potholes, there weren’t even defined lines to establish the separate sides of the street. Most people just drove down the middle. It wasn’t as if there were any other houses besides his own on this street anyways. The only people taking a car would be his father or his friends. Kenneth shrugged his shoulders and let his backpack fall off of his shoulder and into his hands. The pale green of his dilapidated home was just a little bit away now.

A cat was sitting on the roof, sunbathing for what little it was worth. The was hardly theirs, but Kenneth liked to imagine their family was the only one this feline visited. Despite being mostly feral, it seemed comfortable enough to hang around all the time, even if staying meant that the cat was as skinny as the house’s residents. The feline raised its head as Kenneth reached the house’s yard. With a languid yawn and stretch, the cat jumped off the roof and walked over to Kenneth, cuddling up against him before trotting off to nowhere in particular. Kenneth sighed. If he could, he would have joined the cat, just wandering off into nowhere, living off of sheer determination and little else. It was a nice fantasy, but unfortunately, he had a family that needed him. A little sister that depended on him to pay for meals, a mother that looked to him as the only level head in a family of drunk drug addicts. A father who relied on him to pay the bills. He was too needed to leave.

As he pushed the front door open, the sounds of his parents arguing reached his ears, even through the earbuds and the music he was playing. With a quick roll of his eyes, he walked quickly to his bedroom to throw off his backpack and relax for a few hours before he would have to go to work.

“Kenny! I know you’re home! Get’chur ass out here and help with the chores! Yer Daddy’s too much of a lazy, no-good layabout to help!” His mother’s thick, smoker’s tainted voice cried out from the other room.

“The fuck did you just call me, woman? I’ll show you-”

Kenneth McCormick sighed deeply as he pushed himself off his bed. He liked the walk home. It gave him time to think or let his mind wander. It was quiet except for his music. Those were the best moments. But now he was back in the cacophony of home, and there was no peace. He went around, collecting the trash bags from around the house to take outside. He missed being younger. When the thoughts of his parents’ constant feuding were only an occasional annoyance compared to his active childhood. Now, it was a constant, festering problem in his mind.

As Kenneth dropped the bags into the trashcan at the front, he was so lost in thought that he totally missed the sound of the car roaring down the road. He didn’t realize he’d been hit until he opened his eyes blearily while he lay on the street. The car hadn’t stopped. Just rolled over him. With shaking, broken arms, Kenneth reached out and grabbed his phone. It was still in good condition. Thank heavens. With what was left of his strength, he threw the phone back towards his house. At least no money would be wasted. His body hurt, but he could barely think about it. His mind felt fuzzy and heavy, like someone was rubbing it down with Brillo pads. His eyes felt sticky and desperate to close. There was so much red. But it was snowing. Kenneth smiled tiredly to himself as he watched the snowflakes fall. If it stayed steady, the blood would be covered by morning, and his body would be taken care of by the rats nearby.

Hopefully his siblings wouldn’t see. Karen didn’t need to know, and Kevin was too stupid to realize what was going on. As his eyes began to close, Kenneth started planning the next day.   
At least there was one constant in Kenneth’s life that hadn’t changed his childhood. He’d wake up tomorrow like nothing happened. He’d get dressed, pick up his phone from where he’d thrown it, and then he’d walk to the bus stop to get to college. No one would be the wiser. 

Because that was just the way things were in South Park.


End file.
